Additions
by taleanaomi
Summary: Voyager comes across an old StarFleet vessel that is also stranded in the Delta Quadrant. But one of the new crew members is hiding a secret that could destroy both ships. Old story, new guts.
1. Chapter 1

Additions

Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize. I only own my original storyline, plot and any original characters. As per usual all mistakes are my own.

o0o

The suspense in the room was quickly turning into tension. Captain Kathryn Janeway stood from her command chair and walked towards the view-screen. The object was grey in a sea of black and was oddly familiar. The problem was that it couldn't be. A ship of that design had no business being in the Delta Quadrant.

She peered closely at the object suspended in space, not daring to hope that it was what she thought it was. "What is it?"

At the helm, Lieutenant Tom Paris spun around in his seat to face her. "It looks like a StarFleet design." He said.

"Let's not make an assumptions until we know all the facts, Mister Paris." Janeway was quick to remind him. If the vessel wasn't StarFleet, it wouldn't do to raise the crew's hopes only to find that it was an illusion, or something worse.

Janeway turned towards Lieutenant Commander Tuvok, her Vulcan security officer. He looked up to meet her eyes. They had been friends for long enough that she was able to read surprise in his dark eyes.

"It appears to be a StarFleet vessel." He announced. "Registration identifies it as the USS Belfast; Sabre class."

"Request verification." Janeway ordered. She addressed the computer. "Commander Chakotay report to the Bridge."

"Confirmed." Tuvok told her after punching a few buttons on his console. He looked to Janeway once again. "It is the Belfast. StarFleet records indicate that it was lost several years ago near the Badlands."

"The ship is badly damaged." Ensign Harry Kim called from his post behind Janeway. "I'm reading multiple scoring from some kind of energy weapon on the hull. They also have several hull breeches on deck eight through ten."

"Confirmed." Tuvok replied. "They are in intact, but damaged. I am also sensing an energy build up coming from their warp core."

"Hail them." Janeway commanded, walking back to the middle of the bridge and turning to the view-screen.

"Haling frequencies open, Captain." Tuvok said a moment later.

Janeway took a breath and then addressed the StarFleet vessel. "This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the U.S.S _Voyager_."

The view screen snapped on, displaying a man with dark blonde hair and blue eyes. He wasn't wearing any StarFleet regulation uniform she had ever seen before and that in itself was concerning.

" _It's a pleasure to meet you, Captain, but at the moment things are..."_ He was interrupted by an explosion. " _Lock down that conduit!"_ He yelled turning away from the view-screen." _And someone get down to Engineering!"_

" _Captain! I could use some help over here!"_ Someone called in the background.

"Sounds like you're a little busy." Janeway said as he turned back to the screen. In the background the turbo lift's doors opened and Commander Chakotay stepped onto the bridge.

" _No kidding."_ He ran a hand through his hair. " _I don't know if I should be glad you're here or disappointed that another ship is in the same mess we are."_ He nodded to someone off screen.

"Same here." Janeway replied. "To whom I am speaking with?"

" _Captain Christopher Olsen, commanding officer of the U.S.S Belfast."_ He replied. " _Voyager, eh? Your ship must be new, the readings aren't like anything I've seen before."_

"I know you must have many questions, Captain. So do I. But I think they are better discussed in person."

Olsen shrugged." _You're welcome to beam over, but I'd suggest taking some layers off first. Our environmental controls are malfunctioning and it's hotter then a desert in here."_ The screen blinked off.

Janeway turned around, acknowledging Chakotay with a nod. "Commander. Nice of you to join us. We've detected a Federation vessel; the USS Belfast."

"Federation?" Chakotay asked in surprise. "I thought there was no Federation vessels in the Delta Quadrant."

"Exactly." Janeway said. "They've invited me to beam over." She looked at Tuvok. "What do we think? Some sort of trick?"

"My sensors are reading a Federation Vessel." Tuvok replied. "The verifications are old, but correct. However, the question remains wither or not this is the same ship that vanished in the Badlands over five years ago. But if you trust them is another matter entirely."

Janeway nodded thoughtfully. Chakotay looked at her. "You're thinking about beaming over there."

Janeway smiled. "Yes. Yes, I am. Tuvok, you're with me." She said walking to the turbolift. "Commander, you have the bridge."

o0o

Several moments later, Janeway and Tuvok mineralized outside the bridge of the Belfast _._ The first thing Janeway noticed was the heat. "Captain Olsen wasn't kidding about the heat." She said pulling at her collar.

"Indeed." Tuvok said consulting his tricorder. "It is twenty-five degrees above normal."

Janeway walked to the doors and after they had opened, entered the bridge. The picture on the view-screen hadn't even done the bridge justice. It was more of mess then she had thought. Several members of the bridge crew looked at her and Tuvok.

She scanned the room – ignoring the looks – and located the man she had talked with moments earlier. "Welcome to the Belfast." Olsen said walking over to greet them. He was taller then Janeway expected. She looked around the bridge and saw that most of the crew were also attired like Olsen without any regulation clothing.

"Sorry about the mess." Olsen said pulling her back to the conversation. He held out his hand.

"That's quite alright." Janeway replied, taking his hand. "This is Commander Tuvok, my chief of security."

"Commander." Olsen said nodding. Tuvok nodded back.

"I must say, Captain, I didn't expect your ship to be this badly damaged." Janeway said.

Olsen made a face. "Yeah. She's not in great shape, but it's not the outside that counts. Her insides are still intact. Our warp core fluctuates from time to time, but my engineering team has managed to keep it under control lately."

"I do have some questions for you, but I think the first priority is get that warp core functioning normally. The last thing we need is for a breech to happen. I'll have my engineer beam some of our spare parts aboard. We don't have much, but at least we can do something to help."

"That would appreciated, Captain. Thank you."

"I would like to know why your ship is in the Delta Quadrant." Tuvok said. "The last known position of the Belfast was in the Alpha Quadrant, the Badlands to be exact."

Olsen scoffed. "I'd give anything to back in the Badlands at this moment, Commander. I would also love to think that you were sent to rescue us, but I guessing that isn't the case. All I can tell you was that we were on an intelligence mission, following a Cardassian vessel into the Badlands, and then poof; we ended up here."

"A similar thing happened to us." Janeway said. "We were pursing a Maquis ship when we were brought here by an entity called the Caretaker, almost four years ago."

"Never heard of it." Olsen replied. "I've also never heard of the Maquis." He frowned. "I'm sorry, Captain, but I can't help but feel like I'm missing something here. I've never heard of _Voyager,_ which makes me think your mission is classified. But if you've been here four years, then there is no way in hell that you would know about the _Belfast_ unless you have a way of communicating with StarFleet."

Janeway shook her head. "We don't. I assure you, Captain."

"The _Belfast_ went missing and presumed destroyed a little over five years ago." Tuvok said softly.

Olsen managed to control his surprise. "Years? What's the star-date?"

Janeway told him.

Olsen breathed out and ran a hand through his hair. "Five years? We've only been out here five months." He said in disbelief. "That would explain the design of your ship."

"It's been a rough journey." Janeway said. "But we've managed to survive. I'd like to have a repair crew beam aboard and help you get the _Belfast_ back to normal. It's the least we can do."

"Thank you, Captain. Thank you." Olsen said. "I'd also ask you keep the information about the differences in our star-dates to yourself. I should be the one to tell my crew."

Janeway nodded. "Certainly. Also in the meantime, I think showers and something other then rations could be arranged. Would you and your senior staff like to join us for dinner? We can talk more then."

"I think they'd jump at the chance to get some real food." Olsen said smiling.

"18:00 then." Janeway said returning the smile.

o0o

 _Captain's Star-Log:_

 _We've synced our course with the new StarFleet vessel identified as the USS Belfast. They are in rougher shape then we are due to what looks like phaser fire. We've started repairs and invited the senior staff to join us for dinner. Hopefully, we'll be able to learn more about what brought them to this side of the galaxy. Though I am happy to see other members of StarFleet, I can't help but be cautious considering what we've faced in the Delta Quadrant. Hopefully this dinner will help ease those feelings._

"This is all a little hard to believe." Chakotay said as he walked alongside Janeway and Tuvok towards the transporter room. "Another StarFleet ship showing up in the Delta Quadrant after all this time… I must say I'm not too sure what to think. The odds are one in ten..."

"1 in 1000 would be more precise." Tuvok commented.

Janeway took their comments in stride. "They were slim to say the least. I'm hoping that this dinner will help shed some light on how that happened.

"Captain Olsen's comment about time travel was a little hard to believe." Tuvok said. "I too would be curious to know what he thinks happened."

"I thought Vulcan's don't believe in time travel." Chakotay said.

"The Vulcan Science Academy position is that time travel doesn't exist. I have held to that theory until given the evidence to prove otherwise. However, I must admit that there are many circumstances involving StarFleet captains that may have already proved that theory obsolete. Captain James T. Kirk for example." Tuvok concluded as they entered the transporter room.

"Well, let's hope this isn't one of Kirk's incidents." Janeway said. "That man had some knack for getting into trouble. That's the last thing we need."

"A chance to be like Kirk?" Chakotay joked with a slight smile on his lips. He looked up at B'Elanna who was at the transporter controls. "Ready?"

The engineer nodded."Yes, Commander. Though I'm getting an interesting signal. I usually wouldn't mention it, but I can't quite pin down one of the bio-signatures. It's like the computer can't identify the signals at the other end; I'm getting conflicting results. Apparently, the computer wants to beam half a dozen Alpha Quadrant species aboard."

Chakotay exchanged a quick glance with Janeway before turning back to B'Elanna. "Are you sure?"

B'Elanna didn't even have to double check the console. She nodded. "I'm sure. Captain?"

Janeway tapped her comm badge. "Janeway to Olsen."

" _We're ready to beam over, Captain."_

"Stand-by. We're reading a malfunction at your end. Is there a problem we should be aware of?" Janeway asked.

" _Not that I'm aware of. My transporter chief assures me everything's fine on this end. Energize when ready."_

Janeway looked at Tuvok and then made her decision. "Energize." She ordered. A hum started and then three people materialized on the transporter pad; Olsen, a humanoid looking woman, and one male Vulcan.

"What's left of my senior staff," Olsen said gesturing to the officers behind him as they stepped down. He motioned to the Vulcan. "Lt. Commander Samar, my science officer and now helmsmen."

Samar, a light skinned Vulcan with dark hair, nodded to Janeway and then clasped his hands behind his back. His blue uniform looked slightly too big for him.

"And Commander Natalia Carey, my security chief and now, temporary first officer and engineer." Olsen continued. Commander Carey had dark brown hair, almost black and pulled back into a bun, exposing small braids scattered throughout. She wore the red command uniform with only lieutenant pips on the collar.

"Everyone's been taking on double duties since most of our crew died." Olsen explained.

"Welcome to _Voyager_." Janeway said. "My security chief, Lt. Commander Tuvok and first officer, Commander Chakotay. Glad you made it."

"I want to thank you again, Captain." Olsen said. He smiled. "It's nice to get a chance of scenery, especially in the Delta Quadrant."

"I know the feeling." Janeway said. Her curiosity persisted regarding the strange bio-signature, but she let it go for the moment. Maybe it was something faulty in the transporter circuits. "Shall we?" She asked gesturing toward the door.

"I must say, Captain that _Voyager_ is an impressive ship up close." Olsen said as they walked into the corridor.

"That she is." Janeway said her voice full of pride. She turned back. "B'Elanna, run a full check on the transporter when you have moment. Let's get those circuits checked out."

"Aye, Captain." B'Elanna said.

"I was wondering if you would have some time to take me on a tour, catch up on what I've missed..." Olsen said his voice fading as the two Captains walked further away, the other four officers following them out of the transporter room.

B'Elanna felt someone's eyes on her before the doors closed and felt that hair on the back of her neck stand up. That gaze had felt like a challenge.

o0o

After dinner had been finished and Neelix had cleared away the plates and set dessert on the table, something which neither of the crew members was inclined to try, Janeway took a sip of her drink and leaned back in her chair. The rest of the senior staff, mainly B'Elanna, and Harry, had gotten duty shifts that evening; though she knew that they must have been burning with curiosity over their new guests.

The conversation over dinner had been kept to small talk, she had learned that Olsen had been a test pilot before joining StarFleet, and he had told her that his interest in Voyager was more professional then personal. She had a feeling that Tom would want to talk to him about some of the early space fights Olsen had done.

Neither of their two human guests had been born on Earth which wasn't a surprise to her. The UFP had many colonies, but it was of interest to her in judging what their guests were like. She had read up on Olsen before he transferred over and could see much of his service record, demotions and all, came from growing up on an outer colony where decisions had been be quick and innovative.

The other two officer's services records had been short and to the point, as was expected with the ranks they left the Alpha Quadrant with; both had been lieutenants before obviously being granted field commissions.

Olsen also leaned back in his chair and spread his hands in gesture of goodwill. "Questions, Captain? I know I have a few of my own. I had the Belfast prepare a data packet to send to you on the alien races we encountered."

"Yes, thank you. Commander Chakotay has been going over your packet." Janeway replied.

"From what I've been reading you all got one hell of a beating; there was no provocation?" Chakotay asked.

Olsen sighed. "Not from what we could determine. That in itself was frustrating. Apparently, I should have fought back on first sight instead of trying to communicate with them." He grinned. "Not exactly a positive first contact situation."

"We've had a few of those ourselves." The commander said with a wry smile.

"Let's talk about the circumstances that brought you here." Tuvok suggested. "StarFleet records show that the _Belfast_ was in Badlands…"

Olsen nodded. "Carey?" He asked, turning to his first officer.

She took up the story. "The closest our science officers could figure is that we stumbled upon some sort wormhole, but of course that is just a good guess. The Captain tells us that you think we've time travelled three years into the future, while for us only a few months have passed."

"It would seem so." Tuvok replied.

Janeway jumped in. "I'd like to see your sensor data from before you time travelled into the Delta Quadrant. Maybe there is something in them about who or what brought you here. When your computer is working of course."

"Of course." Olsen repeated with a small smile. "Speaking of things working correctly, I hope you got your transporter up and running again."

She decided to play a hunch. "It turns out that it wasn't the transporter circuits after all. We detected several overlapping bio signatures. Our computer couldn't make heads or tails out of them. It was almost like multiple bio-signs appeared from nowhere."

"We've had a few of those several months ago too." Olsen said. "It was one of the things we were investigating before we ended up here."

The mood in the room turned tense. One of them was hiding something from her. The question was who?

"I would like to hear more about what your mission was." Janeway said. "It might explain the events that lead up to the time travel."

This time the tension in the room was almost palpable.

Olsen rubbed his lower chin, caressing the stubble that was growing there. "Honestly, Captain, it's rather a long story. Maybe best served tomorrow. Would you allow me to beam over in the morning and discuss it with you? It's been one hell of a day."

"Of course." Janeway replied. She stood. "I should have realized how late it was getting. You must want to return to your ship."

Olsen nodded as he rose to his feet. He smiled. "I think my doctor would agree. She kept advising me to get more sleep. I assume yours does the same?"

Janeway smiled and nodded. "Of course. Though I imagine it's the same all over StarFleet. There's just never enough time as a captain."


	2. Chapter 2

Once aboard the Belfast, Samar quickly departed leaving Olsen and Carey behind. Natalia looked over at her commanding officer. He looked tired, strong shoulders dropping slightly.

"Let me walk with you." He said.

"Ok." Natalia agreed quietly. They said goodnight to the crew member on the transporter control. Olsen, dismissing him for the night, and continued into the corridor.

It was a moment before he spoke again. "I wanted to talk to you about tomorrow. We have a staff meeting with the crew of _Voyager_. And I have to meet with Captain Janeway."

Natalia took a deep breath, steeling herself.

Olsen continued. "Now, I am assuming that Janeway is fairly intelligent which means she is going to have questions. The easiest way would be to get rid of any evidence of our mission, but I'm not going to do that. I'm going to be as honest as I can without violating my oath."

Natalia nodded. She hesitated. "Chris, if we really are five years into the future, then does any of our intelligence matter? The war is over, according to _Voyager,_ we signed a treaty."

"The war may be over, but our mission is still classified. I'm not willing to throw all StarFleet regulations out the window just because we're not in our Quadrant, or even in our time. We took an oath." He looked at her. "You took an oath."

"I'm not questioning my oath. Some things are better left in the dark. I am questioning the validity of my mission, our mission." She had intended her tone to be hostile, but instead she heard fear.

Olsen took her hand as he slowed down and looked at her. He brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face. "Natalia."

She took his hand and removed it from her face. "Chris, don't... please. Meet with Captain Janeway. I'll handle the crew. We should also let some of them have sometime off; they've worked hard enough the past twelve months."

"Including us." Olsen said pointedly.

"I'll take that as a hint." Natalia said smiling slightly. She moved away from him. "I have to be on the bridge..."

"I'll take your bridge shift tonight. Get some rest; take it easy." He told her putting his hand on her arm. "It's been a rough few months."

"I can't promise anything." Natalia said. "Goodnight." She added after a moment.

He gave her a quick but gentle kiss before letting her go.

"Goodnight." He said before turning around and leaving her in the middle of the corridor.

She sighed. These feelings had been easier to handle when they'd both been on separate assignments. She pulled the band out of her hair and headed towards Engineering. It was going to be a long night.

o0o

The next morning, bright and early, Ensign Harry Kim entered the bridge of the _Belfast;_ his tool-kit in hand. The stickiness in the air felt like he had stepped into a sauna. He pulled at his collar, wondering if he could get away with taking off a few layers.

The bridge was much smaller then _Voyager's_ , but the same amount of people were packed into the small space. The only few crew members that were wearing any section colours were the ones from Voyager.

He turned towards ops, wondering if there was any reason why he shouldn't start checking out the console. A dark haired woman came up to him, punching buttons on a PADD. She looked up as she came to a stop beside him.

"Are you Harry Kim?" She asked. Her decidedly non-regulation long-sleeve shirt collar was unbuttoned slightly too far and Harry tried to keep his eyes from wondering.

"Yes. Yeah. That's me." Harry managed to stammer.

"Good. "She looked back down at the PADD and continued typing. "I'm Commander Carey, first officer. I need you to help recalibrate our sensors. Ops is right over there." She said putting her hand on his shoulder and turning him as she pointed.

Harry had trouble taking his eyes off her, as he turned to look where she was pointing. She looked up from her PADD finally. "You ok?" Carey asked, dark eyes concerned.

"Yes, yes. I'll get straight to work." He said. "Any chance of getting the heat turned down? It's kinda hard to concentrate."

She grinned. "Fat chance. The internals are busted on the temperature regulators. Engineering, which is me by the way, is working on the issue. And any other issues that you may come across. Just make a note when you come across a problem. Call me when you're done." She told him, already walking away.

Harry watched her motion and then talk to another one of the Belfast's crew members. "Yeah, just fine." He muttered under his breath as he headed towards the operations station.

o0o

B'Elanna growled and resisted the urge to slam her hand against the console. It wasn't working. She had been working in the Belfast's engineering for the last few days and every time she had to get permission from a crew member before being allowed access to any of the significant systems.

"Where's your engineer?" She demanded turning to a young ensign who looked barely old enough to be out of school. "I can't do anything until these security lockouts are disabled."

"Bridge." the ensign replied.

"Not any longer." A voice replied from behind them.

B'Elanna turned to see the woman that had beamed over the day before with Captain Olsen standing in front of the warp core. Today, she was wearing a non regulation uniform and had her hair down.

There was something about her that set B'Elanna's teeth on edge. "Right. Shall we get to work? I've noticed that there are several different..."

Carey briskly walked past her and quickly tapped in the command that released all controls for B'Elanna. "I've disabled the security lockouts. Ensign Dovan has a list of all repairs." She told her. "Though I'd start with the warp core. We have a leak we can't get plugged which means we're venting dilithium into space. If you need any help Dovan knows how to find me."

B'Elanna raised an eyebrow. "Dovan?" She asked barely keeping the anger out of her tone. Instead of working with an engineer that understood engines, she was being relegated to working with an ensign? She was interrupted by a beep from the computer.

 _"Bridge to Commander Carey."_

Carey tapped her comm as she moved away from the warp core, and B'Elanna. "Carey here." Then she was too far away to hear anything else.

B'Elanna turned to Dovan, feeling summarily dismissed. "Where's this list?" She demanded.

With what she could swear was a smirk, Dovan handed her a PADD. "What should we start with first?" He asked, placing his hands behind his back at parade rest.

B'Elanna looked up from the PADD. "Might as well start with the warp core. We don't need the Belfast decided to blow up in our faces. We're going to need two more engineers to fix a leak this big. Do you happen to have any spare ones around?"

o0o

"The repairs are going to take longer then we first expected." B'Elanna said handing the Captain a PADD and settling back in the chair in front of the Captain's desk.

"How much longer?" Janeway asked taking it. They were in the Captain's ready room and B'Elanna was giving the repair report. The Belfast was the main cause of this meeting. It had been a three days since the two crews had met and integrated. It had been subconscious, but Janeway sensed that everyone was happy to have some new mental stimulation.

With the intense repair schedule, her meeting with Captain Olsen had been postponed until today.

She turned her attention back to B'Elanna. "It's hard to say how long it will take. Every time we fix something, it seems like another problem comes up. I don't understand it.. .And the personnel..." she stopped.

Janeway looked up from the PADD. "Having troubles with the other crew?"

"Just one in particular. The engineer, Carey, She's hardly ever there and when she is frankly she's a little rude. I understand they've all got things on their plates, but it just bothers me. It's like she has more important things to do with her time. What could be more important then your warp core?"

"They are in pretty bad shape. There's got to be a million things that are going wrong st a moments notice. Most starships have a mind of their own. Take it from me." Janeway said with grin taking a sip of her coffee."Let's just try to get along, alright? You don't have to like them but they are fellow officers and due that respect. And if that doesn't work, we'll consider reassigning you back to Voyager. Now, what's next?"

"We've had to shut down a few of the decks for repairs. Some of their crew is going to need replacement quarters in the meantime." B'Elanna said.

" _Engineering to Lt. Torres."_

B'Elanna tapped her comm-badge. "Go ahead."

" _We have another malfunction on Deck 15. You said you wanted to notified?"_

"Understood. I'm on my way. Torres out."

"Problem?" Janeway asked.

"Not exactly, Captain." B'Elanna smiled. " _Voyager_ just seems to have a mind of its own today. I'll inform you if it's something to be worried about.""

Janeway grinned as the engineer recited the captains own words back to her. "Dismissed."

B'Elanna walked to the doors and let herself out.

Janeway turned back to the PADD but looked up again as she sensed that she wasn't alone. Tuvok stood there silently. "Commander?" Janeway asked.

"Captain. I have something I wish to discuss with you. It concerns the Belfast and it's captain."

Janeway stood and came around the desk. She gestured to the sitting area. "Please. What's bothering you, Tuvok?"

"It's about the Belfast's last mission. I did some digging in the Federation's database. I managed to piece together some of the pieces of our puzzle. It was an intelligence mission, classified." Tuvok said as he sat down across from the Captain.

"There are only a few details on the official record. They were tracking Cardassian ships near what is now called the Demilitarized Zone. We also know that they disappeared. StarFleet Command assumed that they were destroyed, but we now know that they have time travelled five years into the future. The fact that the Belfast was on an intelligence mission may mean that it's captain may be more then reluctant to talk to us about it."

"What about the mysterious transporter bio-signature?" Janeway asked.

"I have no more information on that subject then you do. However, there was several different bio-signatures we detected. They were overlapping so there is no way of telling who or what they belong too."

"What are you suggesting, Commander?" Janeway asked. "That they could be lying to us? That one of them is an alien life form?"

"It is a possibility." Tuvok replied. "We have encountered many strange things in the Delta Quadrant. I believe it is wise to be prudent in such matters."

Janeway nodded, thinking through what her security officer was saying. "I understand your concerns, Tuvok. I've been having them myself. There's something not quite right here. But at the same time, I can't treat every situation as hostile. I have a meeting with Captain Olsen later today. I'll see what he has to say then."

Tuvok nodded. "All I ask, Captain, is to be cautious."

o0o

Janeway lead the way into her ready room and turned to the other captain as the doors slide closed behind them. "Please have a seat, Captain." She lead the way to the seating area. "I would offer you some refreshment, but we'll have to go down to the mess hall for that. Replicators are being rationed again."

"Not a problem." Olsen replied taking the seat that Janeway had indicated. He sighed. "It does feel good to be off my feet for once." He grinned. "For some reason I thought that being a captain of a starship meant there would be a whole lot more down time."

Janeway chuckled as she also took a seat across from Olsen. "Not in the Delta Quadrant, I'm afraid. Though I do have a feeling that if we were back in the Alpha Quadrant, we'd have boredom to complain of." She sighed. "Even though, we've been through a hell of a time, part of me knows when I get back to Earth, I'm going to miss it."

"Explorer's passion?" Olsen asked. "Or just adrenaline junkie?"

Janeway spread her hands. "Maybe a bit of both?" They both chuckled. "Is that such a bad thing?" She asked with a grin.

Olsen shook his head. "Not in my book. You have to have some thrill seeker in you to do this job." He shrugged. "Hell, half the kids on my ship signed up just for that reason; to fight the Cardassians." He lapsed in silence, thinking about those young kids.

"And now the Cardassians are no longer a threat." Janeway said seguing into more business talk. "How is your crew taking it?"

"As well as they can." Olsen replied. "It's not everyday that you find out the war you signed up to fight is over, probably everyone who ever cared about you thinks you are dead, and they've moved on. Thank you for allowing us access to your database. I know it was some small comfort to me to know that my father has passed away quietly instead of in the hospital. I just hope the others of my crew can see it that way."

"I'm sorry about your father, captain." Janeway replied softly.

"Christopher, please." He replied. "And thank you... may I call you Katheryn?"

"I'd like that." Janeway responded. "We're going to need to be friends if we're going to make it through the next few decades together."

Olsen nodded. He motioned with his hand. "Speaking of friendship, did you get the complete data packet we sent over?"

"Yes, thank you." Janeway replied. "I'm sure it'll be most helpful after I've had a chance to fully look it over. I did happen to notice that there were parts of the file that were encrypted. I had a feeling that they weren't meant to be there."

Olsen shook his head. "Nothing classified should have been sent over to you. Our computer system must still be having problems."

"I figured so." Janeway said. "I can get my engineer on it; might make it go faster for you."

Olsen smiled, but shook his head. "Thanks for the offer, but your engineer has already more then she has needed too. We are running almost more effectively then when we were back home. I think Carey can handle the computer."

There was a pause as the two officers studied each other. Olsen was the first to break it.

"More questions?" He asked spreading his hands in a gesture of goodwill. He was interrupted by a hail from Janeway's desk.

" _Captain, I have the Belfast holding for Captain Olsen."_

"Put it through here." Janeway ordered, getting to her feet and walking over to her desk. Olsen followed her. She pressed the button and motioned to Olsen to go ahead.

"Olsen here. Go ahead."

" _Captain, we've had a small accident over here."_

Olsen looked at Janeway in concern. "Is everyone alright?"

" _Aye, sir. Commander Carey and a few others got a bit banged up down in engineering. Nothing serious, but_ _we've requested permission to transported the worse cases over to Voyager's medical bay. The Commander is one of them."_

Olsen looked to Janeway who nodded. "I'll be in the medical bay momentarily. Olsen out. Our medical staff is pretty shorthanded lately and having a actual doctor on hand is most appreciated."

"Not a problem. I'm sure that the Doctor is pleased to be able to help out." Janeway said with a smile.

o0o

The doctor hurried this way and that, looking harried when Chakotay walked into SickBay. B'Elanna and a few others from Voyager had been on the Belfast when the accident had happened and as the first officer, he had felt it was his duty to see if they were alright. Not to mention that he considered most of them friends.

He looked around the SickBay to the various crew members in their states of debris and blood. Ensign Vorik was looking slightly stunned as he held a green stained bandage to the side of his head.

Chakotay headed towards him first. "Ensign, what happened?"

"I am unsure of the complete series of events." Vorik replied. "All I know is that one moment, I was working and then the next a conduit blew. I think the blast knocked me against the bulkhead."

Chakotay looked around and saw B'Elanna enter SickBay. "B'Elanna! I thought you were on the Belfast."

"I had to come back to Engineering for some parts. I heard what happened. Are you ok?" She asked Vorik. Despite their history, she and the Vulcan assigned to engineering seemed to have patched things up enough to work together.

"I may have a slight concussion." The Ensign admitted.

"What happened?" B'Elanna asked.

"Some idiot decided it was good idea to run power through a ruptured conduit!"

Chakotay, B'Elanna and Vorik turned to see Carey sitting on a bio-bed a few feet away. The people in-between them cleared out as the Doctor called for them to head into the main triage area.

The Commander didn't look to be in better shape then Vorik. There was blood on the side of her face from a scalp wound, her hair was coming undone and her clothing was full of soot.

"Which idiot?" B'Elanna asked. "One of mine or one of yours? Because I'd be tempted to say it was one of yours."

"What does that mean?" Carey asked.

"What I mean is that half of the people you have in engineering have never seen the inside of a plasma conduit, never mind realigned one." B'Elanna replied.

A mocking smile came over her face. "You could say we're shorted-staffed, Torres."

Thankfully, Chakotay never needed to step in and stop the argument as the Doctor ran over and tried to scan the Commander.

"Please, there are others that need attention before me!" She told him, trying to climb off the bed.

The doctor held out an arm, stopping her progress. "You have various bruises and contusions, not to mention a possible concussion! You need to be treated!"

She glared up at him. "I'm fine." It was obvious that she was hurt as a wince came across her face as she slide to the ground. "Ensign Dovan was the closest to the conduit when it blew..."

"I've already looked after him." The Doctor reassured her. "You're the last one I have to... Why, you've turned white." He reached towards her, dropping the medical equipment, but Chakotay was faster; catching Carey as she dropped to the floor.

"Thanks." She murmured steadying herself against him.

The Sickbay doors opened and both of the captains walked into the room. Carey pushed away from Chakotay, opting instead to hold onto the bed. Both Olsen and Janeway made their way over to them.

"You ok?" Olsen asked Carey, concern lining his face as he reached out to steady his first officer. She nodded, taking a moment to grasp his hand to reassure him.

Chakotay didn't miss the gesture and wondered how if something romantic was happening between them. He quickly dismissed the thought. With all the issues they were having, the last thing he needed was questions about interpersonal relationships on his mind.

"What happened?" Janeway asked, looking from B'Elanna to the Doctor for answers. The Doctor rattled off the medical report; three critically wounded and seven others with minor wounding.

Olsen looked towards Carey. She shook her head. "I don't know for certain. I'll have to double check the logs, but..." She hesitated. "No one should have been able to work on that conduit. Everyone in engineering knew better."

"What are you saying?" Janeway asked.

"I believe what the Commander means is that it was possible sabotage." Vorik translated. The mood in the room did not improve with the Vulcan's pronouncement.

o0o

"Sabotage?" Janeway asked as the doors to her ready room closed behind her and Captain Olsen. They had wisely retreated to the ready room after Ensign Vorik's grim determination.

Olsen sighed and lowered himself into the couches near the window. "It's possible. We have had a few weird things happen since we came into the Delta Quadrant."

"Does your security chief have any ideas about who would want to something like this? People were seriously hurt!"

Olsen sighed again and rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. "Not really. Katheryn, I understand your concern. I know that you're thinking that if we have a saboteur on board then Voyager is in danger also. I can't tell you that you're wrong."

"Then you also know that I intend to do something about this. Christopher, I don't want to step on your toes but you also have to understand that we're the only StarFleet vessels out here. If we don't stick together..."

Olsen nodded. "I understand. I'll be as honest as I can be. But I need you to understand that our mission was classified, by the highest levels of StarFleet. I'm not about to throw all that away just because we're stuck in some godforsaken quadrant on the backend of the universe's ass!" He sighed again.

"What I can tell you is this. We were sent into the DMZ to retrieve a Intelligence operative whom was working undercover on Cardassia. Command told me there was a possibility of Cardassians sympathizers trying to sabotage the mission and cautioned me to report anything out of the ordinary."

He waved his hand. "I'd call being thrown halfway across the galaxy and travelling into the future out of the ordinary, but I think putting the blame on the Cardassians is just too easy."

"You think one the sympathizers is on aboard the Belfast?" Janeway asked.

Olsen shrugged. "It would seem to make sense wouldn't it?" They looked at one another for a few moments, neither of them speaking.


	3. Chapter 3

Janeway lowered the PADD she had been reading as the door chime sounded. "Come in." She said quietly, taking her feet off the low table where she had been resting them. It was late in the evening and she wasn't expecting anyone.

The door hissed open and admitted Chakotay. He was obviously off duty, dressed in earth coloured garments and holding an open bottle of wine; the currently bottle they were drinking through during their informal evening dinners.

"Bad time?" He asked, eyeing the mess of PADDs, the garments thrown around the room, and the harried expression on his captain's face.

"No. Not at all." She replied, placing the PADD on the couch beside her. "If you're going to share that bottle that is."

Chakotay walked the rest of the way into quarters and sat down on the couch, shoving the PADDS out of the way. "A little late night reading?" He asked.

Janeway got up and went to grab some glasses for the wine. "Reports from the Belfast, classified I might add."

Chakotay stopped reaching for the PADDS. "How high?"

Janeway turned around from the replicator, holding two wine glasses. "Above your pay-grade, Commander." She replied teasingly. Then her mood dampened and she sighed, walking back over to the couch. "Actually, that's what I'm pondering tonight."

"Oh?" Chakotay asked, taking the glass she handed him. He poured the wine into his glass and the glass that Janeway held out to him. He waited until she was settled onto the couch.

Janeway sighed again. "Apparently, the material is very sensitive that it's been redacted. I've only got a few pages here and there before it's been coded so that only an admiral can gain access. Unfortunately, it's the only way to confirm Christopher's story regarding their mission into the badlands. And then there this."

She leaned forward and handed him the PADD she had been studying when he first walked in.

Chakotay took it, and read the opening page. "These are classified files from the Belfast, Captain Olsen's personal classified files." He said raising an eyebrow. "How'd you get these?"

"They were sent over on accident with the current data packet." Janeway replied, taking a sip of her wine. "I'm contemplating having them decrypted."

"Accidental?" Chakotay asked, handing the PADD back. "Or do you think someone's trying to tell you something?"

"I don't know." Janeway replied. She shook her head. "This whole thing is a little hard to swallow, Chakotay. I want to believe that they are good people, but I just can't accept having secrets that could get people killed."

"You're talking about the sabotage." Chakotay replied. Janeway had told him about it after her meeting with Captain Olsen. Personnel matters had kept him from being included in that briefing.

Janeway nodded. "I want you to talk to Commander Carey; find out what she knows about this. I find it hard to believe that Olsen is the only one who knows about the classified mission. I know if it were me, I would let Tuvok in on something like that."

Chakotay nodded. "I've been meaning to talk with her. There is a lot of complaints from members of our crew about problems working with members of the Belfast. According to the reports, they are sharp, rude, and dismissive when it comes to working with our crewmen."

Janeway nodded. "I've heard the same. B'Elanna mentioned it during our meeting the other day. I'm sure they've had a tough time of it, but some professionalism would go a long way to help us integrate."

"You should let Tuvok in on the saboteur." Chakotay said. "He and Commander Carey would make a great team. And it would help with inter-ship cooperation." He added.

"That's a good idea. I let Tuvok know in the morning." Janeway replied.

Chakotay held up his glass of wine. "Now my suggestion as first officer is that we enjoy this class of wine; it might be our last until this latest crisis is cleared up."

"I'll drink to that." Janeway said, lightly tapping her glass against his.

o0o

The next morning, the mess hall was full of the officers from the _Belfast_. Neelix was having a hard time keeping up with all the people.

B'Elanna walked into the mess hall. "Neelix, I was wondering…"

"You'll just have to wait a moment, B'Elanna. I'm quite busy at the moment." Neelix stirred a pot of stew and then went to check on another pot simmering on the stove.

"I just wanted to know if you have any fruit left, but with the looks of this crowd, I don't think you have anything left in the kitchen." B'Elanna said glancing around the room.

"They're the crew from the other StarFleet ship." Neelix said pulling out a plate and starting to put food onto it.

"Yes, I know. I've been working with some of their engineering team." B'Elanna said resting her arms on the counter. "Looks like you've been busy too."

"The Captain thought it would be nice if the crew of the _Belfast_ could have a good meal and I agree with her." Neelix said scooping something onto a plate. "There. What do you think?" He asked grinning.

"Looks delicious." B'Elanna said not sounding convinced. "Now, about that fruit?"

"Sorry, B'Elanna. There's nothing left." Neelix said. "But I will get you some coffee."

"That would be great. Thanks, Neelix." B'Elanna said as Neelix took the plate, he had prepared, to a table. B'Elanna walked over to an empty table and sitting down, started to work on her PADD.

"Neelix!" Tom called as he entered the mess hall with Harry. "Is there any fruit left? I was hankering for an apple."

"Sorry, Tom. All the fruit is gone." Neelix called from across the room.

"Mind if we join you?" Tom asked B'Elanna.

"Not at all." The engineer said. "How are those repairs going on the Belfast?" she asked Harry.

"Uh, great. Just fine. Wonderful." Harry stammered. He sighed. "It's just... I can't help but get the feeling that everyone is looking at us suspiciously, especially the first officer."

Tom and B'Elanna looked at each other.

"Commander Carey." B'Elanna said.

"That's not the first time I've heard the name." Tom said. "What's wrong with her? Does she have two heads or something?"

"You've been hearing the name because crew members detest being snapped at when their just trying to do their jobs." B'Elanna said. Her tone had a little venom in it which Tom raised an eyebrow at.

"I mean is it so hard to treat someone with a little respect?" She continued.

"It would go a long way to making me feel like I'm actually helping instead of just being there for convenience." Harry agreed.

"A bad temper huh? Sounds like someone I used to know." Tom replied taking a sip of his coffee. B'Elanna glared at him, but he was saved by Neelix.

"Here you go." The Talaxian said pouring them some more coffee.

"Thanks." Tom said taking a sip of his fresh cup.

"I couldn't help but overhear that you were talking about Commander Carey." Neelix said leaning closer to them.

"Neelix, do you always eavesdrop on people conversations?" Harry asked a little annoyed.

"I've overheard some of the crew complaining." Neelix replied. "And as unofficial counsellor, I've made it my duty to know when's something bothering the crew of Voyager."

"Why aren't I surprised?" B'Elanna took a sip of her coffee.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Neelix asked sitting down.

"I just meant that I know how difficult she is to work with." B'Elanna said. "I'm not surprised people are complaining."

"Did you ever think about how difficult if could be for her?" Neelix asked. "Their crew gets thrown into the Delta Quadrant, the first officer and engineer gets killed and she takes over for them, as well as doing her security duties."

"I'm not saying it would be easy." B'Elanna said. "But she doesn't have to be mad with everyone."

"She has a lot of responsibility." Neelix said. "She is the highest ranking officer of her crew now. She had to hold them together. That can be hard on someone so young."

There was silence at the table.

"Well anyways…" Neelix said getting of his chair. "Enjoy your coffee."

o0o

On the other side of the mess hall, a different kind of conversation was taking place. Chakotay had walked into the mess hall intending on getting some downtime, but on seeing the other commander sitting by herself in the corner of the room, reading something on a PADD, he redirected himself to her corner.

"What are you reading?" Chakotay asked sliding into the seat across from her. She looked up from her PADD, cup covering half of her face.

"Uh.." She put the cup down and closed the PADD screen. "Repair reports. If your people keep on doing a good job, I think we'll be ready to go under our own power within the week."

"That's good news." Chakotay said with a smile. "I actually came over here to talk to you about the crew. How do you think they've been getting along?"

"Fine." Carey replied a little flippantly. "I mean, there's been a few hiccups, but that's to be expected."

"How about you and B'Elanna? You two have a lot of your plates."

Carey smiled softly. "Ah, well. You saw that one for yourself in Sickbay."

Chakotay waited.

"We're both busy and don't have time to coddle one another."

"You locked her out of engineering." He said simply.

"I did not." Carey shot back. "The old security chief was slightly paranoid. He's the one who had lockouts on controls in engineering. It's been the least of our problems."

"She's not the only one whose having problems, specifically with you. I've heard several complaints. I know you're new at this and..."

"Look, all I wanted was a cup of coffee and some silence." She said interrupting him. "If you want to discuss the correct way to be a first officer in the Delta Quadrant, you'll have to make an appointment." She picked up her mug again and the PADD, dismissing him.

"Avoidance isn't going to work on me." Chakotay told her. "I can be very persuasive; especially when it comes to the crew of Voyager."

"I'll bet." Carey replied quietly from behind her mug.

"I can't have people working with you if you're going to be insisting on treating them like dirt." Chakotay said his voice hardening.

She put the PADD down. "Look, I have three different departments that I've overseeing and I don't have the time to coddle your engineering team. Yes, my people skills could use some work, and yes, I probably wasn't the best person to be commander, but there was no one else. If people have an issue with the way I operate then they need to come to me." She raised an eyebrow. "And not send the commander to talk to me about my attitude. Isn't that the counsellor's job?"

Chakotay stood, taking his coffee with him. "You'd think so. But you're not the only one pulling double duties on this ship."

The comm pinged, interrupting any reply Carey may have had.

" _All senior staff to the bridge."_ Carey looked at Chakotay, and then put her cup and PADD down and followed him out of the mess hall.

o0o

"Back us off 100 meters, Tom." Janeway said, leaning on the back of his chair and looking through the view-screen.

"Aye, Captain." Tom said punching buttons on his console.

The turbolift doors opened and Chakotay and Carey walked onto the bridge. "What's going on?" Chakotay asked coming to a stop beside Janeway. Carey followed him.

"The warp core on the Belfast just went critical." Janeway said, turning around to face them. She directed her next question behind them. "Tuvok, whose on the _Belfast_?"

"Most of the crew and several of Voyager's engineers," Tuvok said from behind them.

"Carey to Olsen." Carey said addressing the computer. "What's going on over there?"

" _I'm trying to shut down the core!"_ Olsen yelled over the comm. _"But someone's disabled the override codes."_

"We'll beam you out." Carey said.

" _Not until we're a safe distance away! The blast could destroy both ships!"_ Olsen said. " _Captain, I suggested you back off 100 meters!"_

"Already done, Christopher." Janeway replied. "Is there anything else we can do on this end?"

" _I've ordered everyone to evacuate. I'll try too…."_ The rest of the transmission was cut off by a burst of static. On the screen, the Belfast launched several small escape pods which quickly moved away from the ship and towards Voyager.

"That's far enough. Beam him out!" Carey ordered, turning to Harry. There was fear in her voice.

Harry looked at Janeway, who nodded for him to comply.

"I can't!" He said a second later as his console buzzed at him. "The shields are up!"

"What?" Janeway said turning toward the view-screen.

Carey slammed her hand onto her comm-badge. "Chris, respond!"

The _Belfast_ moved away from Voyager at impulse and then it just exploded into a ball of light. The Belfast was enveloped in a ball of flame and then it died, put by the vacuum of space. The bridge crew of _Voyager_ sat or stood in stunned silence as pieces of the Belfast floated in space.

"Scan for survivors." Janeway ordered.

"There are several escape pods. I count twenty life-signs." Harry replied, looking up from his console. He looked shaken.

"Tom, set a course for the nearest escape pod. Half impulse." Janeway ordered. "Transporter room, be prepared to beam the survivors to Voyager." She turned to Carey.

The other woman turned away from Janeway and ran off the bridge. The entire bridge sat in silence as they tried to make sense of what had just happened.

"Tuvok." Janeway said after a moment. "Get me all the sensor logs leading up to the explosion." She headed towards the turbo-lift. "I want to know what happened by the time I get back. Chakotay, you have the bridge."

"Where are you going to be?" Chakotay asked.

"Transporter room." Janeway replied and then the turbo-lift doors closed behind her.

o0o

Carey pushed past the crew members that were streaming out of the transporter room. She located Samar and headed towards him. "Where's Chris?" She demanded, looking around at the various uniforms moving past her as they got off the pad and down to the room.

Samar turned to her, and even though he was a Vulcan, Carey read the message in his eyes.

She stopped and the whole world seemed to stop with her. "He didn't make it?" It came out a question, one she already knew the answer too.

"I'm sorry." Samar said. "He bought the rest of us enough time to get to the escape pods."

She held up a hand, stopping him from continuing. Chris had tried to stop the explosion from destroying both the ship and crew. He had failed. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes and fled from the transporter room, pushing past the people that called to her, wanting answers.

She was the commander, the highest in rank, but at this moment she wanted nothing but to be able to grieve in private. She had lost the only person who could help her make sense of her new twisted reality.

o0o

Janeway found Carey in the mess-hall an hour later. Her back was turned to the door and she was staring out the window into space. The same space that the _Belfast_ had been destroyed in.

"Commander?" She asked softly, putting her hand on the other woman's shoulder.

"Captain." Carey said not looking at her. Janeway could see tears tracks on her cheeks.

"We're going to do everything possible to find out how this happened."

"Why were the shields up? We could have beamed them out of there if only it wasn't for those damn shields." Carey said slamming her fist onto the window casing.

Janeway didn't speak, giving the other woman time to collect herself.

"I would like to help with the investigation." Carey said sounding calmer, finally turning to look at the Captain.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Janeway began.

"Please, Captain." Carey asked. "I need to do this."

Janeway thought about it for a minute and then made her decision. "Alright." She said. "But… under one condition." Janeway said making the commander look at her. "Take some time for yourself, you need time to grieve."

Natalia looked away from her.

"I mean it." Janeway continued. "It's not easy to lose a commanding officer, or half your crew."

Carey turned away and closed her eyes. "Chris wasn't just my commanding officer. We were.. involved." She confided in her.

There was silence for a moment as Janeway digested this information. "Oh." She murmured. "I'm so sorry."

Carey wiped fresh tears off her cheeks. "I don't know how I'm going to break the news to the crew. I'm sure they've already guessed that he's gone, but I know I'm going to have to tell them something."

"Take your time." Janeway said. "Chakotay is assigning all of your crew quarters here on Voyager. We'll sort everything out."

"Ok." Carey said, turning away from Janeway.

"Ok." Janeway repeated and then she left, leaving the other woman alone with her thoughts.


	4. Chapter 4

Tuvok had known that something was going on the minute another StarFleet vessel had shown up on their view-screen. He had been waiting for the moment when Captain Janeway invited him into her ready room with more then just ghosts floating around the air regarding the other crew.

The door swished closed behind him as he stepped forward into the inviting office. This morning, the usual cheerful office lacked that certain charm. Janeway was sitting on the couch, staring out at the stars. "Captain?" He quarried.

"Come in, Tuvok." She said, not looking at him.

He walked further into the room and up the stairs into the sitting area. Belying his usual custom, he took a seat; sensing that this was going to be a longer conversation then usual.

"I want you to start an investigation into the Belfast." The captain said. "I was sent some files that need decrypting. I want you to run them through the computer." She looked at him. "I also want you to work with Commander Carey during this investigation; she knows her crew, knows their secrets; she might be of help to you."

"What exactly am I investigating?" Tuvok asked. "Do you suspect that it was sabotage?"

"I have too." Janeway replied. "Captain Olsen all but admitted to me that he had a saboteur aboard. This person or persons was attempting to stop their mission into Cardassian space. I have to assume that the same person is attempting to stop the members of the Belfast from returning to Earth and completing that mission."

"I would like to start attempting to decrypt those bio signs that we detected several days ago." Tuvok said. "With your permission, I would like to make use of Lt. Torres' skills."

"Granted. Take anyone you need." Janeway agreed. Tuvok rose to his feet and started walking towards the door. "Tuvok?"

He glanced back.

"Be careful." Captain Janeway told him. "We don't need anyone else to end up in a coffin."

He inclined his head and exited the ready room.

o0o

The beeping of two PADD's toned throughout Commander Carey's quarters. Tuvok was sitting across from her. Every so often he would stop looking at his PADD and glanced up at the commander. It was curious to him why he was here.

She looked up. "Any particular reason you're watching me?" She asked.

"I am trying to determine your motives for inviting me into your personal quarters." Tuvok said coolly.

"Well, if we're going to be stuck on this ship for the next fifty years we might as well try to get along." Natalia said turning her eyes on the PADD in her hand.

That answer wasn't satisfactory to him and somehow she sensed it. She looked up at him. "Something wrong, Commander?"

"Several things." He replied. "But for one, I'd like to know who had the time and motive to sabotage the Belfast's warp core."

"Then let's get back to this list." She picked up her PADD and started to scroll through more names.

Raising an eyebrow, but gamely picking up his PADD, Tuvok read off the next name. "Crewmen Tessa Byron."

Carey shook her head. "She's assigned to surveying new moons we come across. She has no experience with warp cores. Next."

"Lt. Jamie Conner." Tuvok said.

"Maybe, but he was on _Voyager_ when it happened." Natalia sighed and put down her PADD. They had been at this for several hours already. "I can't believe any of them could have done it. Chris handpicked the crew; they all were vetted and double checked."

"Obviously, one of them was overlooked." Tuvok pointed out. "Some did sabotage the Belfast's warp core."

"And I'm not disputing that." Natalia said. "How many more to go?"

Tuvok checked the PADD in his hand. "Three." He said.

"Mm. Two of them were on Voyager" Natalia replied looking at her PADD. "Mess hall; several people saw them there and interacted with them."

"That leaves Lt. Phillip Jennings." Tuvok said. "He has a degree in warp core physics and was stationed in engineering."

Carey shook her head. "I know Jennings; I have a hard time believing it was him. It seems too easy."

"Perhaps it would be conductive to have a conversation with Lt. Jennings." Tuvok looking down at his picture.

"It's too late to do anything tonight." Carey said. "Why don't we do it in the morning?"

"I concur." Tuvok agreed. "Some rest would do both of us some good."

o0o

The strains of one of Mozart's compositions could be heard faintly through the door to the Captain's ready room.

Chakotay pressed the chime and at Janeway's command, walked into the room.

"Computer, pause music." Janeway said putting the PADD, she had been reading down on the table.

"You wanted to see me?" Chakotay asked.

"Yes. I wanted to talk to you about Commander Carey." Janeway replied.

"What about her?" Chakotay asked.

"How do you feel about her?"

"She seems competent enough. A few issues, but nothing that is out of line with what she and the rest of the crew have suffered. Why? What do you think of her?"

"I keep getting the feeling that there's something more to her then what we're seeing." Janeway said. "And then there's this. We managed to get the weird bio-signs decoded. Only Tuvok and I have seen this." She handed him the PADD that had been in her hand.

"Three bio-signs, two of them normal. Look at the third one. We had to wade through two other bio signs, Corvaian and Human before we found this one."

Chakotay did. "Cardassian?" He said in surprise. He looked up. "Carey is a Cardassian?"

"That's what the scans suggest. Now I'm quite curious to know why a Cardassian bio sign is showing up attached to the commander for all intents and purposes looks like a human. Her StarFleet records even say that she was born on an Earth colony."

"What's she doing here? Wearing a StarFleet uniform?" Chakotay asked.

"I don't know." Janeway admitted. "But something tells me that Captain Olsen wouldn't have let a Cardassian agent onboard his ship. There's more going on here then meets the eye."

"Let me have a talk with her." Chakotay said. "There's got to be a reason for this." He motioned to the PADD in his hand.

"Let's not tip our hand, Chakotay." Janeway cautioned. "I already have Tuvok with her; if she really is a Cardassian agent, I don't want to spook her into doing something drastic."

"And if she's not, then we're leaving out a valuable resource to help us find the real killer." He argued. "One conversation."

Katheryn looked at him for a long moment; he knew that she was gauging how far to trust his intuition.

"Just one." Janeway agreed finally. "I trust your judgement, Chakotay."

"I hope so." He replied. "Because I have a feeling that we're wrong about this, Katheryn."

"I believe it when the evidence suggests otherwise. For now, I need to do what's best for this crew. And if that is putting a suspected Cardassian spy into the brig for the next fifty years, then that's what I intend to do."

o0o

Down on the lower decks in her borrowed quarters, Commander Carey was trying to enjoy some down time, unsuccessfully. The doors chimed interrupting her attempted tries at reading.

"Enter!' Natalia called from her place on the couch. The doors opened and Samar walked into her room. He took in the minimal decorating and the subdued lighting.

"Commander." He said nodding to her. "I hope I'm not interrupting you."

"No, Samar." She replied, closing her book. "I'm just trying to get some down time. What can I do for you?"

"I am in need of your override codes." The Vulcan said bluntly.

"What?" Natalia asked, putting her book down and swinging her feet onto the floor.

This was more serious then she'd first thought. The two of them had meet several times over the last few days to discuss crew dynamics and how to keep some order now that they had been integrated into Voyager's crew. There were many of the Belfast that were angry and with good reason; their captain had been murdered.

"I need your override codes." He repeated. "Since you are working with Voyager's crew, you have higher clearance then I do."

"Yes, I'm aware of that, Lt." Natalia said stepping closer to him. "What do you need them for?"

"I cannot ell you."

"And why not?" The Vulcan didn't answer.

"Samar, what's going on?" Natalia asked.

"I cannot tell you." He repeated.

"You're going to have too. I don't give my codes without knowing what they are going to be used for."

"I give you my word that no on will be harmed by my actions." Samar said.

"I still can't give them to you." She repeated again. "Not without knowing what you're going to use them for."

"I need those codes." Samar said stepping closer to her, his voice no longer devoid of emotion. He grabbed her arm tightly.

Natalia felt a momentary flash of fear. Samar was only part Vulcan. His mother had been a Romulan and she knew that with his Vulcan strength and Romulan emotions, he could be dangerous.

The door chimed. "Come in." Natalia said, managing to make her voice sound steady.

Samar let go of her arm and stepped back as the doors opened. Natalia winced, rubbing at her bare arm. His hand had left a bruise. Commander Chakotay walked in.

"Am I interrupting?" He asked.

"No, the Lieutenant was just leaving." Natalia replied, hiding her arm behind her back. She managed to not make that sound like an order. What was going on with Samar? He never acted like this, never acted out of control.

"Commander." Samar nodded to Chakotay and left, the doors hissing closed behind him.

"I was hoping we could talk." Chakotay said. "I heard that Captain Olsen and you were close. I'm sorry. It must be difficult."

"Is this your unofficial counsellor coming out again?" She asked with a small smile. It was a sad smile though.

Chakotay smiled. "Something like that. I wanted to apologize. I was a bit harsh with you before."

"Sympathy apology?"

"Sincere apology." Chakotay reassured her.

"Thank you." She replied. Awkwardly, she motioned to the couch. "Sit?"

"Okay." Chakotay sat on the couch and she settled in on the other end. "I wanted to touch base with you about your crew, how they are holding up with the integration."

"Samar and I met yesterday with a few of them. I need more answers then I can give them. For the most part their frustrated and understandably so. I may know a few more pieces then them and this whole thing still makes me angry!"

She took a breath.

"You could unclassify the whole thing." Chakotay suggested. "Then maybe your crew would have an easier time understanding why their captain was killed."

"Tell them there's a saboteur aboard and it could be anyone of their fellow crew mates?" Carey shook her head. "It would cause mass panic. Chris and I already discussed all the possible courses of action and telling the crew was last on the list. Only if we were forced into revealing it would we do so."

"If we could gain a better understanding of your mission, then we'd be able to help figure out who the traitor is." Chakotay said.

Carey leaned back in the chair. "You're not the first one whose tried that tactic, Commander. Tuvok was in here earlier today, fishing for information. I know that he's here to keep an eye on me."

"Would Chris have done it differently?" Chakotay asked.

Carey smiled. "No. He would have made sure I was the one sitting in this room. I don't an any issue with having your security officer keep an eye on me, I do have an issue with people questioning my oath to StarFleet. I'm not the one who classified those documents. If I tell you their contents, I am disobeying a direct order from someone high over your head. I'm not about to throw that our just because I'm sitting fifty years from home."

Chakotay stood up. "I was hoping I could help change your mind."

"Some things should stay buried, Chakotay." She told him, looking up into his dark eyes. "Secrets are there for a reason."

"Just as long as those secrets don't get more members of this crew killed." He replied quietly. "Good night, Commander." He turned and left her quarters.


	5. Chapter 5

A chirping noise woke Captain Janeway early the next morning. With a groan, she reached for the night-table and grabbed her 'comm badge.

"Janeway." She said her voice sounding awake, even though she wasn't.

" _Sorry to disturb you C_ _aptain_ _."_ It was Tuvok. " _But we have a situation in Jeffries tube 14."_

"I'll be right there." Janeway promised, throwing the covers off and heading towards the closet.

o0o

"How could have this happened?" Commander Carey asked softly as she bent down beside Samar.

She and Tuvok were standing outside Jeffries Tube 14 waiting for Captain Janeway. Samar's body had been found a few minutes earlier by a maintenance crew. He was dead; The Doctor thought it had happened sometime last night; they were just waiting for the captain before moving the body to autopsy.

"I just saw him last night." She said looking at her friend's face.

"Commander Chakotay mentioned that to me." Tuvok said. "Did anyone have a motive to kill Samar?"

His questions were interrupted by the entrance of the captain. She took one look at her security officer's face and realized what had happened. She glanced into the Jeffries tube. "When?"

"Last night." Tuvok answered. "A maintenance crew found this early this morning. I called you and then Commander Carey. Commander Chakotay is currently talking to the crew member that found him; I believe she was quite upset."

"There's no motive here; not that I can think of." Carey said standing to face her superior officer. "He wasn't liked by everyone, but it's that the way with all Vulcans. No offence intended, Commander." She added to Tuvok.

"None taken." Tuvok said. "Do you know what he was working on?"

"He never shares anything with me unless it is ready to be presented." Carey said. Then her voice turned angry. "First it was Chris, and now this?"

Tuvok raised an eyebrow at Janeway, who shot him a look; effectively silencing his protests. Chakotay finished talking with the young officer. Another security officer escorted away from the body. The Commander came to join the group.

"There's something else going on here." Carey said collecting herself and continuing more calmly. "Last night Samar wanted my command codes for something, I don't know what."

"Then in effect, Commander, you were the last one to see him alive. It places you on the top of the suspect list." Tuvok reminded her.

Carey spread her hands. "Ask any questions you have, Commander. I didn't have anything to do with this."

"Do you think Samar could have caused the warp core to overload?" Chakotay asked thoughtfully.

"I don't know. Maybe?" Carey replied. "I don't want to believe that he could, but he is, I mean he was, capable of it."

"How are you interviews coming with the crew?" Janeway asked.

"Slow." Tuvok admitted. "I'm having to work around crew schedules and apparently more murders." He added with a raised eyebrow.

"Keep at it." Janeway ordered. "We have to got to find that saboteur before he or she decides to kill again. Chakotay..." The captain and first officer moved away from the Jeffries tube and out of earshot of Tuvok and Carey.

The two orderlies moved into the Jeffries tube to take the lieutenant's body to the Doctor to perform his autopsy.

Tuvok motioned that the commander should walk with him. He drew her away from the body and into the corridor where they could talk privately. "I must ask you where you were last night."

"I was in my quarters." Carey replied.

"All night?"

"Yes. Both Samar and Commander Chakotay visited me, but for the rest of the night, I was alone."

Tuvok nodded. "The computer verified what you are telling me."

"Are you sure?" Carey asked sarcastically. "I could have taken off my comm-badge and covered my tracks."

"I already thought of that variance." Tuvok replied as they continued to walk along the corridor. "I double checked, and the computer confirmed the presence of one individual inside your quarters all night."

Carey glared at him as they stepped onto the turbolift. "You seriously believe that I could have done that? That I'm out to get rid of anyone who knew about the classified mission? You want to take me to brig now, Commander?"

"Not yet." Tuvok replied coolly. "While I believe that you may be innocent of this incident, I still have some questions about your classified mission to Cardassian space."

"I can't answer any of your questions; you know that, Commander." She replied.

"Then maybe you can answer this, did you sabotage the _Belfast_?" Tuvok asked bluntly.

Carey looked sharply at him, anger barely controlled. "You think that I would set the warp core to breech, killing my commanding officer and several others of my crew?" She asked in a low, dangerous tone.

"I do not know what to think." Tuvok said meeting her anger with his cool logic. "But I do know that you are hiding something from me and Captain Janeway. In my mind, that makes you a suspect of the sabotage at least."

The turbolift stopped and the doors opened.

"With all due respect, Commander. Leave." Carey told him through gritted teeth.

"I beg your pardon?" Tuvok asked.

"I said, get out!" She repeated, yelling this time. People in the corridor stopped to gawk at the scene.

"How dare you accuse me of murdering my crew! Chris! Do you even know how close we were? Because if you knew me, you would know that I couldn't have done that to him. To the man whose bed I shared?"

"I think we would be wise to continue this discussion in my office." Tuvok said, noticing the stares they were getting. His questions were getting him nowhere and he felt it would be wise to withdraw quietly.

He left the turbolift and walked into the corridor. He entered his office and sat down at his chair. About five minutes later, Carey followed him. The doors had barely closed behind her before she spoke to him.

Carey took a deep breath. "I can see why you would suspect me and I don't appreciate your accusations. I'm just an invested in seeing this saboteur caught. He or she has done a good job at hiding themselves and we've been trying to find them ever since leaving Earth.

"Captain Olsen and yourself?" Tuvok asked.

She hesitated. "Yes, but I was more meaning StarFleet Intelligence. That's where I'm officially stationed, Commander." She told him.

That statement caused him to pause for a moment. "Why did you not tell Captain Janeway this?" He asked finally.

This revelation could explain a lot. Why there were so many secrets that she wasn't ready to share with them, why Captain Olsen had classified certain documents, why even the two of them were serving together on the same ship, a romantically involved couple. There was no restrictions against it, he knew that; but he also knew that human males didn't always enjoy the tensions that captaining a starship and being a husband involved.

"I was under orders not too." Carey replied. "Intelligence Operatives don't exactly go around saying that they're intelligence operatives. I swear I had nothing to do with the Belfast."

"That's does not exclude you from still being a suspect." Tuvok said. "There are still many unanswered questions that I believe you will not answer because you believe that un-classifying your mission would be in breech of your oath as a StarFleet Officer."

"I took another oath." Natalia told him. "Intelligence is never to be unclassified. You know this. I think there are some things that you would never tell Commander Chakotay when you infiltrated his Maquis cell."

"You've been reading my file." Tuvok stated.

"Yes, Commander. I'm trying to get to know the people I'm going to be working with. There are some secrets that shouldn't be told, not even to avoid suspicions of treason. Now..." She sat down on the chair in front of the desk. "Shouldn't we talk about our conversation with Lt. Jennings?"

o0o

Shunting aside his concerns, Tuvok agreed that they should go ahead with the interview of Jennings. He was the most likely suspect, if he could managed to avoid thinking about Commander Carey. The degree in warp physics, the fact that he was working a shift on the Belfast when the plasma conduit exploded, and even that he been known to have a bit of a temper; it all fit into the profile of a killer, but there was no evidence, and several people that had seen Jennings on Voyager when the incidents had occurred.

As they approached the workstation in Engineering where the Lieutenant was working, Tuvok let Carey take point and control the interview. They had learned early on that the crew members of the Belfast did not take well to him starting the conversation.

"Lt? Can we have a moment?" Carey asked.

"Sure." Jennings said handing the PADD to another engineer and walking over to them. "What can I do for you, Commander?"

"We are investigating the deaths of your fellow crew members," Tuvok said. "A moment of your time to answer some questions would help."

"Anything to find out who was responsible." Jennings said. Tuvok watched as he tried to ignore him and turned to Commander Carey. It was a subtle, but slight snub in his direction.

"Where were you when the explosion in the Belfast's Engineering occurred?" Carey asked.

"You know where I was." Jennings replied with a confused frown. "I was in Engineering with the rest of you. I had just gotten off shift and wouldn't have been there at all if that conduit had taken a few more minutes to go off. I got banged up quiet badly."

"And between twenty one hundred last night and seven hundred this morning?" Carey asked.

"In my bunk, asleep." Jennings replied, crossing his arms.

"Can anyone collaborate that?" Tuvok asked.

"My bunk mate, Paul Conner, but he's another member of the Belfast's crew and therefore another suspect." Jennings smirked at some internal joke. "Why? Am I a suspect?"

"That is yet to be determined." Tuvok said.

Jennings did not look happy, but before he could say anything else, Tuvok's comm badge chirped.

Tuvok touched his comm-badge. "Tuvok here." He said.

" _Commander, we have a situation on Deck 7. We need your assistance right away."_

"On my way." Tuvok said. He looked at Jennings. Jennings ignored him and looked at Carey.

"Commander, what is going on here?" He asked. "Are we all suspects now?"

"It's just some questions, Lt. I wouldn't worry about it." Carey answered. "You're not the only one were talking too about this."

"And he's running the investigation into Samar's death?" Jennings asked. "If you ask me, you should be the one taking the lead on this. It's your crew, your people, not theirs."

"That may be so." Carey replied. "But there are two higher ranking officers aboard this ship, and we answer to them. Don't forget that, Jennings."

"We've worked together for months, Natalia." Jennings said. "I thought you would know me by now. That you would know I would do something like this."

Tuvok watched as Carey tried to avoid looking at him. There was something more going on here then just a crew member and a commanding officer. It sounded like there might have been more then one Intelligence member on the Belfast.

"It's an investigation, Lt. Jennings." Carey replied firmly. "I don't make the rules. Dismissed."

Jennings didn't say anything else as he went back to his duties. Tuvok looked down at Commander Carey. "I have to attend to something. We will finished these interviews later."

"Alright." Carey replied softly.

Tuvok turned away and heard her comm-badge chirp behind him. " _Janeway to Commander Carey."_

Carey touched her badge. "Carey here."

" _I would like to see you in my ready room,_ _please._ _"_

o0o

The entire way to the Bridge, Natalia Carey tried to reassure herself of the reasons she was being called to the Captain's ready room. With Christ, a call like that meant some honest conversation, a good cup of tea, and the possibility of a meeting after their shifts.

With Captain Janeway, she had no idea what to expect. Janeway's ready room was huge, much bigger then any of the ships Natalia had ever served on. Janeway stood looking out the large windows when she entered.

"Captain?" Natalia asked.

Janeway turned around. "Come in, Commander."

Natalia did so and the doors hissed softly closed behind her.

"I wanted to ask you about this." Janeway said. "I've been trying to figure out how to ask you this, but I've learned in situations like this it's best to direct. From what I heard you agree with me on this point."

Natalia nodded slowly. "I do prefer the blunt approach."

Janeway handed her a PADD. "Tell me what I should think about this."

Natalia looked at it, feeling her stomach turn. They had figured out the bio-signs from the transporter. This was bound to come up sooner or later. She had hoped later. If Chris had still been alive, all this could have been avoided.

"What do you want to know?" She asked, keeping her voice even and calm.

"You are a Cardassian agent, wearing a StarFleet uniform and serving aboard a StarFleet starship. Tell me that doesn't sound a bit strange to you."

"I'm not a Cardassian agent, Captain. I never have been. StarFleet Intelligence recruited me. They altered my bio-signature so I could infiltrate Cardassian space. That's the classified mission the Belfast was on; picking me up from a Cardassian ship."

Janeway was silent as she digested this information. It was a lot to take in at once.

"Tell me more about your assignment in Cardassian space."

Natalia handed the PADD back to the captain. "If you know about this, then I assume you've talked to Commander Tuvok. I'll tell you what I told him; I can't divulge classified information without the direct authorization of the Admiral of Intelligence."

"You and I both know that you are never going to get that authorization, Commander." Janeway shot back. "It's just a silly excuse to hide behind a classified mission so that you can avoid telling me anything that might incriminate you."

"Is it?" Natalia shot back. "I'm tired of being everyone's scape goat, Captain. You are either trying to get me to change how I handle my command position or you're trying to accuse me of mass murder of a StarFleet crew, not to mention try to get me to break the oath I made. The way I look at it, you're the one hiding behind silly excuses."

"Are you quite done, Commander?" Janeway asked angrily. "If you had as much respect for the chain of command as you keep telling me, you would have kept those remarks to yourself."

"I respect the chain of command, Captain, when the chain of command is worthy of respect." Natalia replied quietly. "Permission to be dismissed?"

"Granted." Janeway replied sharply.

Natalia nodded, turned on her heel, and left the ready room. She was fuming until halfway through the turbolift ride to her her quarters when a thought struck her.

"Computer, halt turbolift." With a beep, the computer complied.

"I need to see those records." She muttered. "Computer, locate Ensign Kim."

"Ensign Kim is located in the mess hall."

"Redirect to Mess Hall." She ordered.

o0o

The muffled raised voices were easy to hear from the bridge, but luckily, Chakotay was the only one near enough to the door to hear them. But even then, he couldn't make out what was being said. A few minutes later, the doors hissed opened and an angry looking Commander Carey breezed past him and into the turbolift.

Chakotay wasn't surprised when the Captain summoned him to her ready room a few seconds after. He walked into the ready room to see Janeway standing in front of her desk. The storm hadn't quiet cleared from the captain's face.

"I take it, that didn't go so well." He said once the doors had closed behind him.

"No." Janeway said, the word having some bite to it. "Honestly, I don't know how Olsen worked with her."

"Love does have a way of blinding people." Chakotay said. "What did she tell you about the whole thing?"

"Apparently, she's working for StarFleet Intelligence." Janeway shook her head. "Honestly, Chakotay, I would have expected something better from her. Hell, I would have even done with her admitting the whole thing and locking her in the brig." She sighed. "This whole thing is getting out of hand."

"What do you propose we do?" Chakotay asked after a second.

Janeway straightened up. "What we discussed." She replied.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Chakotay asked. "You would be taking away the only leader the crew of the _Belfast_ has right now."

"I don't want to do it, but it has to be done." Janeway said. "We're wasting time going around in circles. We all need to be on the same page. And I can't take the risk that she really is a Cardassian agent. We don't exactly have the greatest track record with them. Get it done, Chakotay."

Chakotay nodded and then left the captain alone with her own thoughts.

o0o

Even at this late hour, the mess hall was filled with StarFleet personal. Most of them were coming off their shifts and wanted something to eat before taking the night to relax.

Ensign Harry Kim was no different. After spending a long shift in Ops, he just wanted something hot to fill his belly and then some down time.

He had just picked up his mug of coffee when Harry heard someone come up beside him. He looked up in the deep green eyes of Lt. Commander Natalia Carey.

"Can I sit down?" She asked.

"Uh, sure." Harry said managing not to stammer.

"Thanks." The commander said pulling out a chair. "I wanted to ask you, when you fixed the ops station of the _Belfast_ , did you establish a link to _Voyager_?"

"Only to upload your database to our computer." Harry was quick to reply.

"I'm not accusing you of anything, Ensign." Carey said, reacting to his tone. "Was the link still open when the accident occurred?"

"I was ready to severe it when it happened, but we just managed to capture most of the data." Harry said.

"Wonderful." Natalia said. "Can you help me access it? There might be something in there that could explain what happened."

"Sure. When do you want it?"

"Right now would be great." She replied.

"Let's go." Harry said draining the last of his coffee and standing.

The doors to the mess hall opened and Commander Chakotay and a security team walked in. They went straight towards them. Harry was confused for a moment.

"Commander, what's going on?" Harry asked.

He noticed that the commander was quick to notice that the security guards all had their hands near their phasers.

"Go back to your dinner, Harry." Chakotay said and then he turned to Carey. "Commander, you'll need to come with me."

"And if I refuse?" Carey asked calmly.

One of the security officers moved his hand towards his phaser and Harry tensed. He sensed that the situation was about to spiral out of control.

"I thought so." Natalia said. She turned to put her PADD down on the table.

The officers stepped closer and then Natalia struck. Grabbing the officer by the arm, Natalia relived him of his weapon and shoved him towards the others. Two of the officers reached for their comrade by reflex and were momentary distracted.

The other two were stunned by Carey's stolen phaser. Panic broke out in the mess hall and StarFleet personal ducked to avoid stray phaser beams.

Chakotay rolled away from the beam and come up beside her He grabbed her by arm and knocked her aim away from the last security officers.

Still humming on adrenaline, Carey spun and rammed her palm into Chakotay's nose and felt bone give way underneath her hand.

Chakotay let go of her arm and tried to stop the blood that was now coming from his nose.

Carey took the chance and sprinted towards the door.

"Stop!" One of the remaining officers called and raising his phaser; fired.

The commander rolled, the doors parted for her and she dove through them into the hall. She landed crouched and stood. She turned and hot wired the doors closed. It would take them, five minutes at least to go around.

"Computer, execute Program Carey Beta-Lima 2." She ordered as she finished stripping the wires and twisting them together.

After a few seconds, the computer beeped. "Confirmed. All personal files and command files have been voice-locked."

She stood, dropped the phaser at the door, and ran down the hall.

Rounding a corner, Natalia walked straight into Tuvok. Behind him stood three security officers, all with phasers drawn. Slowly, Natalia backed up. She sighed quietly. "Not you too."

"I am only following the captain's orders." Tuvok said.

"So, what? You'll shoot me?" Natalia asked. She spread her hands. "I'm unarmed, Tuvok."

Tuvok walked a few paces closer. "That's not what the officers in the Mess Hall reported."

"I trusted you, Tuvok." She told him.

"I guess that trust was misplaced." Tuvok said.

"I guess so." Natalia said. She held out her hands at her sides, palms extended towards them.

Tuvok nodded and the officers moved forward. Two of them took hold of her upper arms and escorted her towards the brig.

o0o

The force field sprang to life behind Natalia and she turned around. Captain Janeway stood behind the field, Tuvok slightly behind her with the Doctor. She could only guess why the hologram was there.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Janeway asked crossing her arms.

"That this is all a big mistake." Natalia said. "I'm not the one who sabotaged the _Belfast_!"

"That doesn't carry any weight with me." Janeway said. "Not from someone who attacked my first officer and five of my security officers. Scan her." She ordered the Doctor.

The Doctor stepped forward and scanned the woman in front of him. He handed the tricorder to the captain with a look at Carey.

Janeway took the tricorder and read the results. "You have Cardassian bio patterns. Care to explain that? Again?"

There was a silence from Natalia. "I already told you." She replied quietly.

"I didn't want to have to confine you, but I think it would be best for the rest of the crew." Janeway said. She stepped forward and studied Carey. "I'm curious about one thing. You done a pretty good job convincing everyone here that you care about them. I didn't think Cardassians were capable of that kind of emotion."

"What can I say to convince you?" Natalia asked. "I'm not the Cardassian spy we're looking for. I'm not even Cardassian!"

"Then tell me why you read as Cardassian!"

"I can't; it's classified."

"Then I suggest you get comfortable." Janeway said. "It's going to be a long trip back to Earth." She turned away from the other woman and started for the door.

"Tell Commander Chakotay I'm sorry!" Natalia called after the captain.

Janeway gave no sign that she heard the traitor.


	6. Chapter 6

Two days later, Natalia watched as the security officer glanced at the clock once again. It was almost time for his shift to end.

She would be glad once the officers left. She had taken off her outer jacket and unbuttoned her long sleeve shirt, exposing her tank top and the man was having a hard time keep his eyes off her.

Natalia shot a glare at his back as he turned to look at the clock again. Her back itched and she knew it was because of the dermal regenerator used to cover up her markings.

Her mission had been simple, sneak into Cardassian territory, go undercover as a citizen on Cardassia and report back on the situation there. Once the Belfast picked her up from the Cardassian frighter she'd secured passage on, she would go undercover as a human, posing as a member of the Belfast's crew until they reached Earth where she'd go back to her intelligence posting. She and Chris would have been engaged by now and planning a wedding.

Instead, her fiancee was dead, and she was trapped in the Delta Quadrant in the brig until by some miracle Voyager managed to make it back to Earth. A court martial and prison was all that awaited her now.

She watched as another officer came in and talked quietly with the other one.

Still, watching the officers, Natalia slipped off one of her boots and twisting off the heel, took a small device out of the small opening.

She palmed it and slipped her boot back on as the officer's switched places.

Natalia leaned her head against the wall and sighed. This was it. Once she did this, there was no going back.

Her mind made up, Natalia stood and walked towards the force field. Its hum got louder as she walked closer. Placing one hand on the wall beside the field, Natalia place the small device on the wall and stepped back.

The lights on the small device blinked. First red, yellow and then it held green. The force field dropped and Natalia stepped out.

The officer looked up and drew his phaser.

Natalia ran for him and knocked the phaser out of his hand with one kick. A second later, the guard was on the floor, unconscious.

Natalia went behind the security console and tapped on the controls. The computer beeped a confirmation and Natalia moved away. She picked up the phaser from the floor and left the brig.

o0o

Tuvok sat cross legged in his quarters; lit candles littered the floor at his feet and the tables.

He was meditating.

A beep from the computer terminal in his room interrupted his meditations and Tuvok pulled himself back to the present. Standing swiftly, the Vulcan walked over to his computer and brought up the message.

One eyebrow raised as the Vulcan read the contents of the package. This clearly needed to be brought to the Captain's attention. Dressing quickly, Tuvok left his quarters in search of Captain Janeway.

o0o

Natalia slipped into the darkened quarters, phaser held in front of her.

She needed to be sure and this was the only way to know who had killed her crew and endangered so many other lives. Natalia went towards the computer, which sitting on the small desk in a corner of the room.

Reaching towards the screen, the hair on the back of her neck stood up. _This was a bad idea._ She thought. The phaser handle was cool in her hand and Natalia's grip tightened on it.

"Don't even think about." A cool voice came from behind her. "Computer, lights."

Natalia turned around. Jennings was holding a phaser on her. His gaze was calm and cool. Beside him stood Tuvok. A large bruise on the side of his head. She could only guess what had happened.

"Commander?" She asked.

"I assume you are here looking for Captain Janeway." Tuvok said.

"Yes. How did you..."

"I have discovered information that leads me to believe that you are not the saboteur we are looking for. Obviously that information was correct."

"Enough talk." Jennings ordered. "Put the phaser down, Carey."

She hesitated.

"This forcefield holding our security chief hostage here is linked to my bio signs. If the readings change one iota, all the air will be vented from this compartment." Jennings told her. "We'll all die. Just like the crew on the Belfast."

"So it was you." Natalia said obeying him. "Did you also kill Samar?"

"Yeah, I did." Jennings said. "That pointy eared hybrid was going to expose me; I had to kill him. They always seem to be poking their noses where they're not supposed to be."

"What about Captain Olsen? Commander Felix? The others?" Natalia asked. "Why kill them?"

Jennings shrugged. "Collateral damage." He said.

"He was your captain, you traitor!" Natalia hissed unable to hide her anger any longer.

"He was StarFleet. They were StarFleet." Jennings said with contempt. "Part of the all-mighty Federation."

"When did the Cardassians get to you, Jennings?" Natalia said. "What could they possibly have offered you that could be worth betraying everyone?"

"Security for one." Jennings shot back. "You really think the Federation would have welcomed us back with open arms after what we did?"

"We gathered intelligence nothing more." Natalia replied. She couldn't help but glance over at Tuvok. Jennings knew that their missions had been classified. Would he really go so far...

Jennings laughed. "That's what you did. You gathered our troop movements, our placements, our culture, our weaknesses. I did the Federation's dirty work; their bidding."

With clarity, Natalia now realized how easy it had been to turn Benjamin Jennings. He had been under deep cover for too long. He started to identify with his target and that had made the approach by the Cardassians easy.

"The Federation doesn't condone action like that." She said quietly.

"Doesn't it?" Jennings laughed again. "You really are naive, Commander."

"Whatever you've heard those are just rumours." She shot back. "Shadows to scare intelligence officers like us. It's not true!"

Jennings's smile vanished and was replaced by a burning anger. He stepped closer and gestured with the phaser. "Get over there." He growled. "I've had enough of your self righteous attitude. StarFleet always thinks they're smarter then everyone else. I knew that you would want to tell your precious captain about your discovery, so I faked her bio-signs to lead you two here. Quite clever when you think of it."

"And what are you going to do with us now?" Natalia asked. "Kill us? Just like you killed everyone else? What purpose would that serve?"

Jennings shrugged. "Nothing. You just bother me. But first you're going to get me command of this vessel. Then I'm going home to Cardassia. Let's move." He motioned with the phaser towards the door.

Natalia complied and together they exited the room. The doors closed, leaving Tuvok behind.

0o0

"How did you figure out it was me?" Jennings asked as they walked along the corridor.

"You mean, when did I know that my partner had betrayed me?" Natalia asked. "It was the only thing that made any sense. You kept going after the only people who knew about our mission. You were the logical conclusion, but no one knew about you so the blame was all on me."

"That was clever, wasn't it?" Jennings asked. "I figured you would hold to your principles rather then reveal who you were working for. In here." He shoved her towards a doorway.

They entered into a small room filled with engineering consoles. Jennings motioned her over to one of the computer. "Use your command codes. I know for a fact that no one rescinded them yet. I checked."

Natalia hesitated.

Jennings gave her another shove with the phaser.

The doors hissed open and both of them looked to the doorway.

"Put the weapon down, lieutenant." Captain Janeway's calm voice said. Her phaser was already out and aimed at Jennings.

"I'll shoot her." Jennings warned, aiming his phaser at Carey,

"There is no need for violence." Janeway said calmly. "Everything you said has been recorded since the moment you left your quarters. We know what you've done. Put your weapon on the ground, now."

Jennings hesitated and looked like he was going to co-operate then, he fired his phaser.

Janeway's shot was only a second later, but it was already too late. The beam caught Natalia in the chest and pitched her backwards onto the floor.

Chakotay kicked the phaser out of Jennings hand and checked for a pulse. The man was dead.

Janeway knelt beside Natalia and grabbed for her comm badge. "Medical emergency…"

Natalia grabbed her hand. "Tuvok." She managed to say.

"We got him. He sent me the information and as soon as we realized you weren't the one who sabotaged the Belfast, we put two and two together. We managed to disable the force field. Jennings wasn't that smart after all."

"Oh, good." Natalia breathed. "Jennings... betrayed..."

"I know." Janeway assured her. "We finally decrypted Chris' files. He already had suspicions about Jennings but didn't want to mention them to you in case you'd tipped him off. After that, it was quite easy to set the computer to monitor him until he made his move. We have the evidence we need to ensure no one will blame you for this."

Natalia nodded and tried to draw in a deep breath.

"We've got to get you to sick bay." Janeway said. "Two to transport."

The transporter beam enveloped the two woman. The Doctor was waiting for them when they materialized.

He was quick and efficient at getting things set up. But he quickly shook his head when he saw the extent of the injuries. "This is severe." He said running a tricorder over the wounds.

"Bio implants." Tuvok spoke up from the bio bed he was lying on. He stood up.

"You have a concussion and shouldn't be up." The Doctor said.

"I am fine. You must know that the Commander is not a Cardassian. The bio readings you are experience are designed to fool transporters for subterfuge. Adjusting the tricorder should allow you to scan for the transceivers."

"Ah. I see." With a quick flick of the wrist, the Doctor did as Tuvok instructed. The disbelief didn't leave his face."These are extensive. They'll need to be disabled for me to work." He glanced down at the commander. "Though it's good to see you're not a Cardassian, though I've never treated a Corvaian before."

"Corvaian?" Janeway exclaimed.

"I'll explain at another time, Captain." The Doctor said. On the bio-bed, the commander's eyes closed and an alarm went off causing the doctor to move into action. "She's slipping into shock!" He quickly administered the dosage, but the alarm still blared.

"Doctor?" Janeway asked.

The Doctor shook his head as the tone continued in the background. He glared at the tricorder in his hand and then looked up at the Captain.

"There's nothing I can do. It would take too much time to take out the transceivers and with them in, I can't get the readings I need. Besides, the burns are too extensive. Even if I treated her, we would be subjugating her to multiple surgeries with little guarantee of survival. We have to let her go."

He switched off the alarm; the mood in Sickbay was somber. Lt. Commander Natalia Carey was dead.

o0o

Two days later, Captain Janeway stood in front the bay windows in her ready room and looked out at the black space that _Voyager_ was travelling through.

The door behind her hissed open and Janeway didn't turn around. She knew it was Tuvok even before he spoke. He had been discharged for Sickbay the day before and was already back on duty. She would expect nothing less from him.

"Captain?" He quarried.

"How did I misjudge someone so badly?" Janeway inquired softly not turning around.

Tuvok didn't answer.

"The whole time she was telling the truth and now another member of the _Belfast_ is dead because I didn't want to believe it. Why is it that we always have to pay for our mistakes?" Janeway asked, finally turning to face Tuvok.

"I can not answer that question." Tuvok said. "However, I do think that we learn from our mistakes. Both Human and Vulcan cultures seem to share that similarity."

"No one should have to lose good men and women just to learn a simple lesson." Janeway pointed out. There was silence for a minute and then she roused herself. "What did you come in here to tell me?" She asked.

"We are ready for the funeral." Tuvok said.

Janeway nodded and walked towards the door. Tuvok let her leave first and then followed after. The door hissed closed behind them as the pair walked onto the bridge.

Most of the _Voyager_ bridge crew was there and all of the Belfast' _s_ crew compliment, or rather, what was left of them, a merger fifteen men and women. Janeway took her place in front of the crew and Tuvok behind his security station.

o0o

Chakotay looked around at the crew from the _Belfast_. Most of them had blank expressions on their faces, but their eyes told a different story. All of their senior staff was dead and they would have to be under Janeway's command until they got back to Earth.

 _If_ they ever got back.

Chakotay shook that thought from his mind and looked at the coffin. It was draped with the Federation flag; ready to be beamed out into space.

Janeway nodded to Tuvok who touched the control and the coffin vanished into thin air, only to reappear on the view-screen.

One of the female crew members rushed out of the room. One of the men looked after her. Another woman touched his arm and then went after her friend.

Janeway dismissed them soon after and the bridge crew went back to work. It was quieter then usual, but everyone seemed glad to have something else to think about besides what had happened in the last few weeks.

Chakotay watched as two new faces took their posts on the bridge. They were good officers. He had read their files and knew they would be able to make it through this tragedy.

 _Here's to new additions._ Chakotay thought grimly as he mentally saluted with an imaginary glass of champagne.

-The End-


End file.
